


vain (a tale of blaise zabini)

by Harryissuchalittleshit



Series: To Be Cunning and Young and Ambitious in the Aftermath of War [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Life after the war, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:28:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25654426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harryissuchalittleshit/pseuds/Harryissuchalittleshit
Summary: Let's talk about Blaise Zabini.Blaise knew he was vain, that he had high opinions of everything. He kept his standards high and didn't let anyone break them down. He lived a life of privilege, lived a life that was better than most.Blaise knew all of his friends thought of him as a vain and conceited person. But he fell in love with a sweet girl who didn’t know better, he had a daughter and didn’t know how to raise her, he became better for his grandchildren. He became better for himself.
Relationships: Daphne Greengrass/Blaise Zabini, Lyla Zabini/Hugo Weasley
Series: To Be Cunning and Young and Ambitious in the Aftermath of War [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852618
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	vain (a tale of blaise zabini)

Let’s talk about Blaise Zabini.

Blaise who has never known his father, never known a man to be a father.

Six stepfathers have all come and gone, all came into his life and all disappeared within a blink of an eye. All of them had loved his mother, or more so, loved the thought of her. A beautiful women, with a warm smile and bright eyes, she was a women that people lusted after her.

Blaise loved that women envied his mother and men wanted her, because that meant he could hide in the shadows. He liked that women wanted him and men envied him for his looks, he had inherited most of his looks from his mother, but his dark skin from his father.

He was fine with the looks that were given to him because he liked the attention given to him.

He liked attention.

~`~

“What are you doing?” asked Daphne, as Blaise sat down beside her on the floor. He smiled as she pressed her leg against his own. This was a secret he would keep to the end of the war, if they survived the war.

Daphne was perfect, golden curls, sharp cheekbones, plump lips, bright blue eyes, sun-kissed tan skin, she was beautiful. Blaise loved beauty in all that he could manage, Daphne was just that, beauty in all the world could manage.

“I can’t sit?” asked Blaise, pulling out his potions book, it was a subject he didn’t much care for. Transfiguration was his best subject, being able to change an object into something else always fascinated him.

“I’m not helping you with your homework,” snapped Daphne, with a quick wink before turning back to her own work, her blonde curls bouncing down her back with every turn of her head.

Blaise wanted to reach out and grab it, pull her head back to his, press his mouth to hers…but they were in the dorm common room. Draco, Gregory, Vincent, and Pansy were sitting on the couch feet from them, while Millicent and Theodore sat on the loveseat across from them.

It was too quiet with all of them actually doing their homework, usually the girls were all together, giggling and making noise, the four-

No, the three of them, Tracey was dead. She had gone home for the summer, and now the only living relative she had once had was her older brother Thomas. Blaise was sure that Thomas had a snake and skull on his arm now, just like Draco.

“Someone turn on the radio,” said Daphne, lifting her head and resting it back on the seat of the one large chair in their tiny common room.

He didn’t know when they stopped using the main common room, if it had been when Umbridge started pinning badges on their chests or when some of their relatives started to break out of prison. But being with the other Slytherins, the younger kids just didn’t seem right anymore. Nothing seemed quite right anymore.

War had come to Hogwarts.

They had always felt the mounting pressure, the buzz of anger in the walls, the unease of their classmates around them.

“Turn it on yourself, Greengrass,” said Gregory in his bored lazy drawl, but he was smiling all the same as he flicked his wand.

They had all spent years hiding together in each-others bedrooms, listening to football games and dancing to Muggle music. It was different now though, they were feeling the constant reminder of hate around them, messages were appearing overnight on the corridor walls.

Dumbledore’s Army was still looking for recruits.

But they weren’t looking in the right place. They’re were at least seven students that were more than willing to fight the evils surrounding them.

Well, at least seven students that were lying to themselves that they shouldn’t join up in the effort.

~`~

The war would be different for all of them, they all had different stories of the night the Battle of Hogwarts occurred.

Pansy with her curses, as sharp as her tongue. Millicent with her shields, always protecting them. Daphne with her stunning spells, able to stop anything in her path. Gregory with his smile, able to charm his way to the wrong side of the battle and able to fight what was right. Draco with his stubbornness, always in the way. And Blaise with all of the above, he fought from a window on the seventh floor, taking out Death Eaters from his snipper spot.

All of them had blood on their hands.

Vincent had the most blood on his hands, but he wasn’t around anymore.

They only lost two in the war, some lost more, Tracey and Vincent were their causalities, that was it. But he couldn’t stop thinking about it, Tracey was always funny, she was always joking around and she brought out a warm side in Pansy. Vincent was quiet, a presence that Blaise missed, that he had once enjoyed, he was always good company.

But they were gone now.

~`~

The end of the war had more good than bad, sure people still stared at them when they were out together, but it wasn’t horrible.

“Come and dance with me,” said Daphne as she crawled into the booth, where Blaise was sitting with Draco and Theodore. Gregory was out on the dance floor with Pansy already, the pair of them were getting closer, which was either for the best or the worst.

“Yeah, Blaise,” grumbled Draco, from his other side, his eyes red and angry, “go and dance with her.”

Blaise rolled his eyes and let Daphne pull him out onto the dance floor as the music changed. Everything was high energy in this club, but every time that Daphne had pulled him out the music turned slower and they had an excuse to wrap their arms around one another.

His mother didn’t care who he married, as long as they had money, but he cared. During the war he could be open about his prejudice, something that Daphne fought him on whenever they were alone together. Now though, the world was different, he had to keep his thoughts to himself, it was easier to do so.

“Draco is just jealous,” whispered Daphne as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close. Blaise rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes, he would sway with Daphne as long as she let him.

“I know,” Blaise told her, pressing his lips to her ear. She sighed and he smiled, technically her family was blood traitors, but he loved Daphne enough to ignore it.

His mother was a murderer, so maybe he shouldn’t judge too much.

“You know,” whispered Daphne in her knowing voice, and Blaise turned his head to look at her, “maybe we should tell the others.”

“Don’t be daft, Daphne,” said Blaise, pulling his head off of her shoulder. “They already know.”

They hadn’t been obvious, but they hadn’t really bothered to hide their relationship either. Blaise didn’t care too much either way, if Daphne wanted to be with him, then she would have to get used to how he was. If she wanted to share their relationship with the others, then he wouldn’t stop her, but he wasn’t going to change either way.

“Really?” asked Daphne softly, looking up at him as he stood at his full height. Gregory was the tallest of them all, but Blaise was only an inch or two shorter. “Because Millie was asking me about us.”

“What does Millie know?” asked Blaise, thinking about the baby she had given up a few weeks ago. It was Vincent’s baby, something that all of them knew, but none of them wanted to admit or talk about.

“She was just curious,” snapped Daphne, and Blaise bit his tongue to keep himself from snapping back. Usually, Daphne amused him, she was funny, she was beautiful, and she was smart, but sometimes, her temper got the best of her.

“Draco just ran off with your sister,” Blaise told her, hoping to change the subject.

“Well she’s going back to school in the morning, so he’ll be disappointed,” said Daphne was a smirk, and Blaise started to wonder when he could persuade her to run off with him for the night.

His mother had been married seven times, including to his father. She had killed all of her husbands, but his father had been the only one who had seen it coming, he had put protections in place for his money. He was the wealthiest of all of his mother’s husbands, and he had put his whole fortune into a trust fund for Blaise.

He got all of it the day he turned eighteen.

His mother wasn’t angry, she had more money than him now anyways, Blaise didn’t need to work, he didn’t need to do anything, but he liked writing, so he got a job at _Transfiguration Today_.

His incredibly small salary went to St. Mungo’s just like how Theodore donated his salary back to St. Mungo’s.

“Draco is an idiot, he’ll probably wake up tomorrow and she’ll be gone,” said Blaise as the music changed around them.

Daphne kept her arms around his neck as she started rocking her hips against his own. Her eyes dark and lusty.

He was in love with her.

~`~

Blaise stood beside Theodore as they looked through the window of the St. Mungo’s nursery. His own daughter had yet to grace the world with her presence, she would be beautiful, the perfect combination of Blaise and Daphne.

He was sure of it.

“Her name is Anamika Parvati, after Padma’s sister,” said Theodore as they watched the little girl. Theodore had two other children, both of them boys, Devansh his oldest would be seven at the end of the next month, and Hajari was five now.

Blaise could remember when both of them were born, he could remember when all of the Goyle children were born, when Draco and Astoria had their son, Scorpius. He knew that Millicent was never going to have children, and if she did it would be quite a long time from now.

“She looks like Padma,” Blaise told him as he looked at the little girl, she did look like Padma, she would grow to be very beautiful. “She’ll be troublesome when she’s older.”

“The first girl born in five generations,” said Theodore, and Blaise nodded, both Theodore and Draco were hung up on having daughters. If Draco had a daughter, he would be the first Malfoy to have a second child in seven generations.

“Well congratulations,” said Blaise, knowing that he didn’t sound as excited as Theodore wanted. He would want Draco’s level of excitement, something that Blaise couldn’t give him.

Daphne wanted to move in together, so they did; Daphne wanted to get married, so they did; Daphne wanted to have a baby, so they did. Blaise was happy, he loved Daphne, but he didn’t care what he did, what they do.

Daphne did though, she wanted a family, she wanted to have a family long before Blaise could commit to it. He had a family, he had brothers in Draco, Theodore, and Gregory, he had sisters in Millicent and Pansy, he didn’t need a baby to have a family.

“That sounded so reassuring,” said Pansy as she walked over to them, her only son Jacob in her arms. Millicent was her daughter Sam’s godmother, Draco and Astoria were Mira’s godparents, and Theodore and Padma were Jacob’s godparents. Gregory promised that the next one would be Blaise and Daphne’s godchild, but Blaise didn’t mind, they had Scorpius for both a nephew and godson already. “Congratulations Theo on doing what I’ve done twice now and having a daughter.”

“Thanks Pansy,” said Theodore, reaching out to take Jacob from her. “We’re very happy.”

“She’s beautiful already,” said Pansy as she looked in the window. “Good thing Padma’s her mother, I would be scared if you were raising her on your own.”

Theodore laughed and Blaise felt himself smile, Pansy was right, they all remembered how much of a wreck Theodore was without Padma. If Theodore did have to raise his children on his own, now of them would be able to be around him.

His children would be a wreck too.

“I can’t wait to get this baby out of me,” said Daphne, as she rested her head against Blaise’s shoulder. “Hopefully she’s as pretty as Anamika, Theodore.”

“With Blaise’s looks, I’m sure she’ll be,” said Pansy with a small laugh as she turned back to the nursery window.

Blaise ignored the teasing and wrapped his arm around Daphne’s waist, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. He was ready to be a father, even if he didn’t feel excited like he should’ve been, like everyone else was.

“She’ll be beautiful no matter what,” whispered Daphne, resting her hands on her stomach. “I know she will.”

~`~

Lyla Ophelia Zabini was born August 20, 2007.

She was beautiful; shiny golden curls, dark blue eyes, dark tan skin, delicate and graceful; she was beautiful. Blaise didn’t like to get sappy or overemotional, but holding Lyla for the first time, kissing her forehead, looking down at her in Daphne’s arms, it made his heart warm.

Lyla was perfect, an angel sent to him to love and hold and care for. She was the daughter he wanted, she was a perfect mix of him and Daphne, a baby to live up to the Zabini last name.

He was vain, he knew that about himself, but he wouldn’t let himself ruin his daughter by being like that. He loved her, holding her in his arms, seeing her in the world, _seeing_ her, it made everything real.

It was different from holding any of their friends children, Lyla fit in his arms perfectly. She reached for him, her little arms, her little hands stretching for the first time.

He didn’t know how cramp it was in Daphne’s stomach, but Lyla was reaching and stretching at every moment she could. She didn’t seem tired, like how Daphne was, she was curious, her eyes and hands reaching for everything, for Blaise.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead, letting her little hands touch his face, the stubble he didn’t have time to shave as Daphne’s labor had changed so quickly. He had been getting ready to go to St. Mungo’s when Daphne had told them they had to go now.

Within three hours Lyla was born.

Blaise smiled down at her as she blinked up at him, he would remember this moment for the rest of his life. His daughter, his beautiful perfect daughter, was in his arms, in the world now.

~`~

Lyla grew quickly.

Blaise blinked and she was five, a laughing, giggling child who ran into his arms when she had a bad dream. She sang to herself, she played the piano, she was best friends with Anamika Nott.

He blinked again and she was on the train to Hogwarts. Her long curly blonde hair tied back in a ribbon, her dark blue eyes a blaze of courage, she was ready for the world to take her. She would be a Slytherin, ambitious and cunning, brave to spite those who said they weren’t.

Her letters came one after the other, each with stories of her friends and professors and classes. She could tell a story, she could write better than him at twelve, thirteen, fourteen, and she didn’t even make any money off of it.

He started to send her a galleon with each new letter, told her to keep him informed and more will come. She kept writing, her letters getting longer, her stories more detailed.

She wrote about Hugo Weasley and he wanted to burn her letter. She was fifteen, too young to be in love, too young to want a boyfriend.

Lyla was beautiful, she could have anyone she wanted, Blaise didn’t care either way, but a Weasley is not what he wanted for her.

He would rather see her with Jacob Goyle, or even Hajari Nott, despite the age difference. He would rather see her with a MacMillan or Smith or even Goldstein, not a Weasley.

But then it happened anyways.

Hugo Weasley had curly red hair and bright wandering blue eyes, he was tan and freckly, he was tall and well built, he was a beautiful person. He wasn’t good enough for Lyla though, he was fidgety and flighty, a Hufflepuff blood traitor, but Lyla loved him.

He just hoped that they didn’t have children right away, it was going to take him a while to get used to a Weasley in the family.

~`~

“When are we going to have grandchildren?” asked Daphne, as they sat across from Hugo and Lyla, they were meeting at the Dragon Egg’s Inn, a mutual place. “The two of you aren’t married, you still live in that tiny flat, what is taking so long?”

“Mum,” said Lyla, and Blaise sighed, he was still fine with this part of their relationship. “We’re twenty-eight, we have plenty of time-“

“Lyla’s twenty weeks along,” said Hugo, cutting Lyla off, and smiling at Blaise and Daphne. “She’s due at the beginning of September.”

Blaise looked at the pair of them, Daphne had wanted the world from Blaise, she wanted them to get married, to have a baby, to have grandchildren. Blaise had always just wanted Daphne, he had just wanted to love her, wanted to be with her.

“Congratulations,” said Blaise, reaching forward and squeezing Lyla’s hand. “We’re excited for you Angel.”

Lyla nodded and pulled her hand away, slipping it under the table to rest on her stomach. “I’m just nervous, I only just told Hugo a few weeks ago,” explained Lyla quickly, “I was worried I would miscarry again.”

“Miscarry again?” asked Daphne, reaching for Lyla, but she kept herself guarded. She was too much like Blaise, she kept her walls up high, keeping even Blaise and Daphne out at times.

“A few years ago,” said Hugo, quieter than Blaise had ever heard from him before. “We didn’t tell anyone about it.”

Blaise knew that was a lie, but he wouldn’t question it, if they wanted to keep things from him and Daphne, they couldn’t question it. But the thought of his daughter suffering, even just a little bit, it scared him. Lyla was his world in more ways than one, he hadn’t been the best father in the world, he didn’t know how to be a father, but he loved her.

“September isn’t that far away,” said Blaise, as he picked up the menu again, “let us know if you need anything.”

He winked at Lyla, and watched as she smiled, she was twenty-eight, but it was never too late to become a better person.

~`~

“Odysseus?” said Blaise as he held his newest grandchild, he was the youngest of four. Evan, Lyla and Hugo’s oldest, was twelve already and had been sorted into Hufflepuff. Hector was nine, quiet and funny and more ambitious than he had ever been. Their only granddaughter, Roslyn, who they called Ro, was nearly four, and already smarter than Blaise was at sixty-seven.

“Odysseus Christopher,” corrected Hugo from his seat by Lyla’s bed. Lyla was curled up with Ro, both of them asleep, it had been a long day for Ro, and an even longer one for Lyla. “We’re going to call him Chris.”

“Four Greek heroes,” said Daphne as she took Odysseus from Blaise’s arms. He looked more like Lyla than Hugo, but that could change at as he got older. Evan was more than proof of that, he was Hugo’s double now.

Hugo made a noise and Blaise looked up to see him snoring in his chair.

“It’s been a long day for them,” said Daphne, as she sat down with Odysseus. “I’m surprised even Hector is awake.”

Hector looked up from his spot on the floor, his school book in his lap. “Yes, Grandma Daphne.”

“Aren’t you tired?” asked Blaise, as Hector closed his book and stood up. Hector walked over to him and looked up at Blaise with his own eyes. Hector looked the most like him, like Lyla, except for he had Hugo’s freckles.

“Not as much as mama,” said Hector, sitting down on the bed and looking over at his mother and sister. “Or daddy. They were here with Odie all day.”

“Odie,” said Blaise with a smile, looking down at his youngest grandson. “I think I like it more than Chris.”

“Well Evan got to name Ro,” said Hector and Blaise looked at Ro curled up in Lyla’s arms. Her curly bright red hair still in the piggy-tails that Blaise had put in her hair that morning. Ro liked it when he did her hair, he wasn’t very good at it, but she was always happy when he was done.

“Hector lay down with me,” mumbled Lyla, opening her arms enough for him to crawl into them. “It’s way pass your bedtime.”

Hector crawled into her arms and cuddled between Lyla and Ro. The three of them all falling back to sleep.

Blaise turned back to Daphne and kissed her forehead, before running his fingers through Odysseus soft hair. He stepped over to Lyla and kissed her cheek, running his fingers through her hair, before turning to his other two grandchildren.

In the morning, he would send the letter that he wrote to Evan, letting him know about his newest sibling.

~`~

Let’s talk about Blaise Zabini.

How all of his friends think of him as a vain and conceited person. How he fell in love with a sweet girl who didn’t know better, how he had a daughter and didn’t know how to raise her, how he became better for his grandchildren.

Vain is often defined by showing a high opinion for one’s self, their appearance and own abilities. Blaise had high opinions about everything, high opinions for himself, for his lovely wife, his daughter and son-in-law, for his grandchildren.

Now though, his high opinions had lowered themselves. He loved the people he choose to surround himself with, his family and friends, his daughter and grandchildren.

He was vain, he knew that about himself, but he wasn’t a bad person. He had high opinions of the people he loved, high unbreakable opinions.


End file.
